Hercules: The Value Of Family In The Movie Hercules

The concept of an epic hero ordains in most capacities to be born into their position, subsequently having to prove themselves worthy of said position, eventually excelling their birth circumstances and achieving greatness. This is true of most epic heroes, being either demigods, royalty, or both. Hercules is a demigod (explaining his astounding feats of strength and will), Aeneas is a demigod and of a royal bloodline, Odysseus is essentially blessed by the gods and king of Ithica. Those characters’ qualities of birth can be definitively classified as happenstantial luck. Yet, is it luck if one’s powers are inexplicably unique and inherent, not being bestowed? The most enigmatic, yet prominent epic hero who defies the trope of born luck seems to be the Anglo-Saxon character of Beowulf.

In Greek mythology Hercules is known for his strength and courage, considered as half man and half god. He was an adventurous superhuman born from mortal mother and the son of god Zeus. Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus decided to kill Hercules after his birth. Hercules then married the Theben princess Megara and had three children. However, Hera wasn’t happy about him. She was filled hatred of him, and as time goes, this situation made him to kill his wife and all his children. Hercules then felt guilty about the crime he had done. Hercules was charged to serve his cousin, king Eurystheus, and the ‘twelve labors’ were given to him as punishments. Those labors are a call to adventure that made Hercules to cross the threshold

Who is the best example of a hero? Hercules. He is the mortal son of zeus. Hercules is the strongest hero of all time. Not only does he have incredible strength, but he is very caring of his family and mortals. Hercules is not just one of those basic, amatuer heros, he has so much experience since he had performed 12 labours. These are some of the reasons why Hercules is known as the greatest hero of all time.

Hercules is not the hero that greek mythology glorifies him to be. His ruthless acts to “purify” himself from killing his family, are nothing but him following commands of robbery, whether it be of a life or possession. He is less of a hero and more of a modern day hired ‘hitman’. Hercules agreed to completing the twelve tedious labours, however bad they might be. If he was ordered to steal something, he would. If he was told to kill something, he would do it. His actions are more alike the ones of an assassin or hitman rather than a selfless hero.

Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.

One of the biggest differences between “Hercules” and Heraclês is the fact that in the movie, “Hercules”, Zeus has only one son, which is Hercules. This difference falls underneath the family values portion. Zeus, the ruler of Olympus, has multiple children in the myths. While in the movie he has the one, Hercules. Zeus focuses only on Hera, he is deeply infatuated with her. On the other hand Zeus in the myths is a “player”, lots of women got his love. The Disney version applies more to modern day life than the myths do. In today’s society a man is supposed to have one wife and have kids with her only. However in the myths, Zeus, had multiple wives and a great deal children. Disney is working to connect with the audience by having it look like a typical family.

Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.

For my research paper I chose to explore and analyze instances of the great Greek/Roman hero, Heracles (Hercules), appearing in popular culture and the effect his myths had on early civilizations. Considered by most to be the greatest of the Greek folk heroes, Hercules was the embodiment of masculinity and physical power. The word “herculean” literally translates into “having enormous strength, courage, or size” (dictionary.com.) Since their inception, the myths and legends of Hercules have been immensely popular and have had vast influences on people and cultures throughout the world. Over the next few pages I will attempt to compare and contrast several examples of Hercules’ representation in pop culture with the underlying

One day Hera, still wanting to wreak havoc upon Hercules’ life, influenced Hercules to kill his own wife and children. When Hercules came to his senses and realized what he had done, he was overcome with grief. He immediately went to the oracle at Delphi and asked how he could cleanse himself of his sins. The Oracle replied, “You must go to Mycenae and serve King Eurystheus for twelve years. Only by doing this will you ever be free of your pain and guilt” (Richardson and Baxter 10).

Hercules found the boar on Mount Erymanthus and cornered it into a snow bank, immobilizing it. He tossed the boar over his shoulder and carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar.

Then, he is suddenly forced into an unknown environment; a huge difference between his regular circumstances and his new one is established (Vogler). Hercules, who is the hero of the film Hercules, is presented as the baby of loving parents and Greek gods Zeus and Hera, who reside on Mount Olympus. Zeus creates a winged horse named Pegasus, since he wants Hercules to have a friend. Everything in their life is perfect. However, baby Hercules is unexpectedly stolen in the middle of the night by Pain and Panic, the devious minions of the wicked Hades (Hercules). They almost take Hercules’ powers after they give him a mystical potion. A loving couple, Amphytryon and Alcmene, discover Hercules all alone and decides to adopt him. Hercules grows to be a young man, but the citizens of his town despise him and call him a freak because of his strange power. Hercules’ ordinary world is composed of all these events.

Take a minute to look at the world around you. Notice how different people are. Notice how lucky some people are. Notice how unlucky some people are. Notice the amount of people who are so famous or popular. Then notice those who are nobodies. Disney’s Hercules is a film about a young hero, Hercules, who was born a God, but was forcefully taken of everything but his strength. He was taken of this by Hades, the God of the underworld, who is out to destroy the other Gods of the world and destroy Olympus forever. Throughout the movie Hades is faced with the fact that Hercules may return to stop him from pursuing his evil plan. Hades goal is then to defeat Hercules and finish his scheme . In the film Hercules, the writers use the evil genius to reveal, that humanity will use many resources in order to make themselves seem better than others because they fear that since they may be less fortunate than them, they may be overlooked by the society around them.

Hercules, or known in Latin as Heracles, was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity. In art, Hercules was portrayed as a powerful, muscular man wearing lion's skin and armed with a huge club. He was also described as being a macho man buffoon, who was very impulsive. Hercules’ home and birthing place is in Thebes, Greece. Thebes is a city in central Greece. It plays as an important setting in many Greek myths, such as the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and many other important roles in Greek Mythology. The demigod, Hercules has an interesting origin, he is most famous for his 12 labors, and leaves a legacy in words and expressions.

all the commotion was about, she was amazed at the sight of her infant son

The twelve labours of Hercules is a myth because it is a story passed down all the way to today’s generation, making it be a traditional tale. Hercules is originally a Roman god; however, it is similar to the Greek’s version of Heracles. This myth is originally from the Latin language--which is typically used by the Romans. The twelve labours of Hercules was originally written by Peisanders and was then lost in 600 B.C. Hercules was born a demigod with supernatural powers that established the patterns of life as we know it. According to Synnøve Des Bouvrie and Bascom’s definition, the 12 labours of Hercules is a myth because it is traditional, remote, and true.